Pro speech – Resolution to Require Foreign Language classes for High School Students
Sir Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power”. How ironic it is that this member of his own parliament debated issues to help educate his own people as we sit here now to educate ourselves to understand the world. It is because of his famous statement that I stand in the affirmation of this resolution ***
First, we need to dispel the fear and mistrust in our country. Two years after 9/11, USA Today published a study showing 52% of Americans distrust people who even look foreign. Learning more about the culture and understanding people takes away that distrust. No longer are we cut off from the world outside our school walls or even the world beyond the oceans. Knowledge of cultures different from our own teaches us tolerance for such communities, a concept needed now more than ever. In whatever line of work we may choose for ourselves, we will come in contact with people from a different culture. Dispelling these preconceived notions of fear and mistrust should start before adulthood before prejudice truly sets in.
Second, it gives students exposure to a different type of knowledge. Having at least two years of basic foreign language instruction opens up many opportunities that didn’t exist even ten or fifteen years ago. In our post-secondary education structure, it is very common for students to study abroad, spending a semester or two in a foreign country to study. In fact, as compiled by the college boards, 40% of post-secondary schools now offer students the opportunity to study in a foreign country as part of their program’s degree, an experience that will give these students an advantage in the global work force. In addition, with all of the online coursework available as well as the number of college professors who speak English as their second language, students with an initial background in a foreign language achieve more success in school because they can better communicate with classmates and professors. Even though the two years of foreign language instruction at the high school level would be in basics of that language and culture, the basis for a good education starts in the secondary school and continues throughout their life.
Lastly, studying foreign language improves understanding of one’s own language and grammar. As determined in a study conducted by the Globe-Gate Research group in 2008, students who were educated in more than one language showed improvement in perception, reasoning, and judgment. This study also reported that speakers of more than one language scored better on verbal standardized tests, tests that many states require students to pass in order to graduate from high school. The University of Dayton reports the more students learn about a language foreign to them, the more they understand how their own language works. Students gain a stronger vocabulary in their native language in addition to improved literacy, verb conjugation, and sentence structure. These studies prove that learning a foreign language teaches the student more about their own language.
As you can firmly see, this resolution solidly promotes furthering the education of our youth, teaching them tolerance, giving them advantages, and helping them perfect grammar and mechanics in our own language. I encourage all of you to vote in the affirmation of this resolution involving foreign language education.
Sir Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power”. How ironic it is that this member of his own parliament debated issues to help educate his own people as we sit here now to educate ourselves to understand the world. It is because of his famous statement that I stand in the affirmation of this resolution ***
First, we need to dispel the fear and mistrust in our country. Two years after 9/11, USA Today published a study showing 52% of Americans distrust people who even look foreign. Learning more about the culture and understanding people takes away that distrust. No longer are we cut off from the world outside our school walls or even the world beyond the oceans. Knowledge of cultures different from our own teaches us tolerance for such communities, a concept needed now more than ever. In whatever line of work we may choose for ourselves, we will come in contact with people from a different culture. Dispelling these preconceived notions of fear and mistrust should start before adulthood before prejudice truly sets in.
Second, it gives students exposure to a different type of knowledge. Having at least two years of basic foreign language instruction opens up many opportunities that didn’t exist even ten or fifteen years ago. In our post-secondary education structure, it is very common for students to study abroad, spending a semester or two in a foreign country to study. In fact, as compiled by the college boards, 40% of post-secondary schools now offer students the opportunity to study in a foreign country as part of their program’s degree, an experience that will give these students an advantage in the global work force. In addition, with all of the online coursework available as well as the number of college professors who speak English as their second language, students with an initial background in a foreign language achieve more success in school because they can better communicate with classmates and professors. Even though the two years of foreign language instruction at the high school level would be in basics of that language and culture, the basis for a good education starts in the secondary school and continues throughout their life.
Lastly, studying foreign language improves understanding of one’s own language and grammar. As determined in a study conducted by the Globe-Gate Research group in 2008, students who were educated in more than one language showed improvement in perception, reasoning, and judgment. This study also reported that speakers of more than one language scored better on verbal standardized tests, tests that many states require students to pass in order to graduate from high school. The University of Dayton reports the more students learn about a language foreign to them, the more they understand how their own language works. Students gain a stronger vocabulary in their native language in addition to improved literacy, verb conjugation, and sentence structure. These studies prove that learning a foreign language teaches the student more about their own language.
As you can firmly see, this resolution solidly promotes furthering the education of our youth, teaching them tolerance, giving them advantages, and helping them perfect grammar and mechanics in our own language. I encourage all of you to vote in the affirmation of this resolution involving foreign language education.